Joe Carnahan Taking Over Paranoid Thriller Umbra

When we brought you news of Umbra in May 2009, the paranoid thriller was set to be directed by Roger Donaldson, who had directed yet another surprisingly good Jason Statham thriller with The Bank Job earlier that year. Apparently at some point Donaldson had Nicolas Cage set to star in the film, but as these things do, it all fell apart. Now The A-Team's Joe Carnahan is on hand to pick up the pieces.

According to Deadline Carnahan has made a deal to rewrite the script and the direct the project, about "a man who finds an old cassette tape which reveals a horrifying secret." Honestly, that logline sounds a lot less intriguing than the basic "paranoid thriller," and given that Carnahan helped write and also direct the incoherent mess that was The A-Team, I'm not all that enthusiastic about the skills he's bringing to the table. Although, given that not so long ago he was hoping to take over the feature adaptation of Preacher, maybe we should be glad he didn't set his sights on something with more potential?